


Semper Fidelis

by SimplyChristian



Category: Halo (Video Games) & Related Fandoms
Genre: Exploring a character's motivations, Fantastic Racism, Gen, Loyalty, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Tartarus POV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:54:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26637649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SimplyChristian/pseuds/SimplyChristian
Summary: Two qualities measured the worth of a Jiralhanae: Strength and Loyalty. For a single, brief moment, when the Arbiter confronts Tartarus in Halo's control room, the Chieftain wonders if the Prophet of Truth is deserving of his loyalty.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 11





	Semper Fidelis

**Originally published on Fanfiction.net: 12/12/2011**

* * *

“Tartarus.”

The High Chieftain’s mind froze for one moment as he recognized that voice.

“Impossible,” he uttered to himself, but the reality behind him showed that the Arbiter was indeed standing very alive behind him.

“Put down the Icon,” that accursed Sangheili said.

“Put it down?” Tartarus replied in disbelief, “And disobey the Hierarchs?”

“There are things about Halo even the Hierarchs do not understand.”

His captains took a step forward menacingly, ready to slay one who would utter such vile words.

Tartarus held them back; he knew the Arbiter. He may be fool and an incompetent, but he was not a heretic in the true sense of the word. Yes, he had disrespected the Forerunners by allowing the destruction of the Sacred Ring to happen, but that was merely because he was weak, like the rest of his kind. His loyalty to the San Shyuum, however, was certain. Then again, that was before the Chieftain had boasted that the Hierarchs had ordered his death. But perhaps the Sangheili could see reason.

“Take care, Arbiter. What you say is heresy.”

“Is it?” he replied challengingly, and then addressed the round relic in the hands of one of his captains, “Oracle, what is Halo’s purpose?”

“Well, collectively, the seven…”

“Not another word out of you!” growled Tartarus, grabbing the Oracle and shutting it up. He never understood the reason for the Oracle. After all, why did they need Oracles when they had Prophets?

“Please,” came a cocky voice. It was the dark-skinned human, and he was holding in his hands a Beam Rifle that was pointed directly at the Chieftain’s head, “Don’t shake the light-bulb.”

His captains again started to advance forward, but the sniper growled, “If you want to keep your brain inside your head, I’d tell those boys to chill!”

“Stand down,” Tartarus barked to his guards, and they grudgingly obeyed.

“Go ahead,” said the sniper, addressing the Arbiter, “Do your thing.”

He once again asked the Oracle the purpose of Halo.

“Weapons of last resort, built by the Forerunners to eliminate potential Flood hosts, thereby rendering the parasite harmless,” explained the Oracle, now able to speak its piece.

Tartarus was in a state of disbelief. It could not be. The gates to godhood could not possibly be mere weapons of war. There was no way a faith that had kept the Covenant together for thousands of years to be false. Yet it came from the mouth of a creation of their lords.

“And those who made the Rings? What happened to the Forerunners?”

“After exhausting every other strategic option, my creators activated the rings. They and all additional sentient life within three radii of the galactic center, died, as planned.”

The second blow was as great as the first. Could the lords that the Covenant had worshipped for so long not be ascended, but long since gone to dust? Killed by the very weapons they had created? Tartarus looked at the Arbiter, to see how he was reacting to the Oracle’s words.

The Sangheili bowed his head, looking sad but not entirely surprised at the news.

Hesitantly, the Oracle spoke again, “Would you like to see the relevant data?”

Instead of replying to the Oracle, the Arbiter addressed the Chieftain with the last words he would ever expect to come from his mandibles.

“Tartarus, the Prophets have betrayed us.”

_Us._

The Arbiter said the Prophets betrayed _us_. For a third time in less than a minute, Tartarus was floored. How could the disgraced Sangheili think that the Hierarchs had betrayed the Jiralhanae? The Sangheili could feel that way from their point of view, but what did they expect, after failing to protect the Prophet of Regret? But the Jiralhanae were the Prophets’ most loyal and strongest servants.

 _So were the Sangheili_ , said a small voice in the back of his head, _They had protected the San Shyuum since the beginning of the Covenant, and the Hierarchs saw it fit to kill them all._

Tartarus internally growled at that voice. The Elites had broken their part of the Holy Writ first, by allowing the Prophet of Regret to die at the hands of the Demon. But was that enough to warrant genocide? Tartarus was not opposed to this idea; he was very supportive of wiping out every last Sangheili in existence, but that was because of the hatred between the two races. Regret’s death was certainly enough of a reason for the Elites to lose their position as Honor Guards to the Prophets, but what was the crime against the Hierarchs that _all_ the Sangheili deserved to die?

The High Chieftain had not cared about the reason until now.

 _Perhaps it is the same reason the Prophet of Truth allowed the Prophet of Mercy to die_.

That thought had festered in the back of Tartarus’ mind ever since he had followed Truth’s orders to let the parasite consume the Hierarch. He believed that he did the right thing in the end; after all, among the Jiralhanae, only the strongest survived, and the weak died. But the Prophets were higher than his kind, and their rank as leaders of the Covenant and interpreters of the gods were already proven.

The Prophet of Truth said that the Great Journey waited for no one. But it would have taken mere seconds to save the Hierarch from a fate he did not wish even on the Sangheili, much less one of the High Prophets, the most revered leaders of the Covenant. Yet Truth had dismissed the fallen Prophet as a lost cause immediately. Despite the reason Truth had given, despite the fact it had come from the mouth of the highest of the Prophets, Tartarus felt as if it were an inadequate answer.

He paused, thinking about his enemy’s words. The Arbiter. Former Supreme Commander Thel ‘Vadamee. Tartarus had thoroughly enjoyed the Supreme Commander’s trial and punishment, seeing it as further proof of the superiority of the Jiralhanae over the Sangheili. But he did not enjoy branding the Sangheili as much as he thought he would, because of his actions toward the Chieftain’s own brethren.

Most Sangheili did everything in their power to kick the Jiralhanae low and keep them as far away from their ships and armies as possible. Faulty equipment, unimportant campaigns, and barely functional ships were all methods the Elites had used against those they haughtily called Brutes.

But not Supreme Commander ‘Vadamee. In the Fleet of Particular Justice, from what he had heard, Jiralhanae served alongside the Sangheili. Not on the same ships, of course, and their armies remained separate. Tensions were too high between the two races to risk an internal conflict in the face of an enemy, but there were Jiralhanae in the charge of ‘Vadamee. Almost every other Sangheili would never sully themselves by having to take responsibility for such a “savage” race. That was the first unusual thing about the Supreme Commander.

The second was how the Supreme Commander treated his Jiralhanae. The best equipment and ships still went to the Sangheili, of course, but Jiralhanae under the command of ‘Vadamee they did not have to worry about their ships or weapons breaking down in the middle of combat. Under ‘Vadamee, Jiralhanae were treated more as fellow members of the Covenant, and less as hated rivals.

And that Sangheili was standing in front of him, telling Tartarus that they could still be allies. The Arbiter was giving him a chance for them to join forces and survive a lie that had deceived both of them.

The High Chieftain of the Jiralhanae was shocked to find that he was tempted by the Arbiter’s offer.

He quickly cleared his mind of such thoughts.

The Arbiter may have treated the Jiralhanae fairly, but the rest of his kind certainly did not. Ever since they had joined the Covenant, the Sangheili had put them down, treated them little better than Unggoy. But the Hierarchs, especially the Prophet of Truth, had given Tartarus’ people a chance. They lifted them up, showed how much they valued their strength. And Tartarus was not about to disappoint them.

“No, Arbiter!”

He threw the Oracle at the human sniper, and forced the human commander into placing the Icon into Halo’s control panel.

“The Great Journey has begun! And the Brutes, _not_ the Elites, shall be the Prophets’ escort!”

Now, Tartarus was not truly fighting for the Great Journey. Not anymore. Now, he was fighting for the only ones who had truly valued the Jiralhanae, the only ones who let the Jiralhanae have a chance at showing their strength.

If the Prophets were right, then Tartarus would find his reward on the Great Journey. If they were wrong, then at least he would die a loyal warrior.

* * *

 **Author’s Note** : In truth, I usually have very little sympathy for the Loyalist members of the Covenant, especially the Brutes and Prophets. But I also know that everyone, human or otherwise, have their own reasons for doing what they do. They are not always good reasons, and they certainly do not excuse acts of evil, but there is almost always a reason.

I had always liked the Arbiter’s attitude towards the Loyalists. He never seemed to show hate towards the deluded members of the Covenant, and more than once he tried to tell his enemies of the truth. He doesn’t even seem to show much disdain towards Tartarus, the one who had tortured, branded, and attempted to kill him and the rest of his species. The Arbiter does not try to take revenge on Tartarus, but instead tries to persuade him of the truth. I think that for a moment (an extremely brief moment), Tartarus considered the Arbiter’s offer. And still, in Halo 3, the Arbiter never showed that much hatred toward the Brutes, reserving all his rage for the San Shyuum, especially the Prophet of Truth.

* * *

 **AO3 Commentary:** Even years later, I still think the Arbiter’s offer to Tartarus is his most powerful moment. If it were any other Sangheili, they would have just attacked, or made demands, or been very grudging/sneering towards Tartarus as they exposed the lies of the Prophets. But Thel, after accepting the truth he had started to suspect for some time, made a genuine offer of reconciliation to the one who tried to murder him, and led an attempted genocide on his species. Thel was compassionate enough to see Tartarus as a fellow victim of the Prophets’ lies, and was willing to let go of their species’ mutual hatred in order to work together against the one who had used them both.


End file.
